#excalibur theory

[aduckwithears]

You know that shot from the magic shop in 1941? The one with the sword (and the “Excalibur’s Chest” magic trick) between them?

@myladycrow12 reminded me on my gif set post of the similarity to the visual in a scene from the movie Excalibur (1981 - check it out if you haven’t seen it - deeply weird and dark and rated R - fantastic music). There’s a scene where Lancelot and Guinevere have consummated their forbidden love affair in the woods, Arthur comes along while they are sleeping and leaves Excalibur in between them. I went to grab a screenshot from the movie, saw that it is pretty much the same sword, and was shooketh. Here you go:

Lancelot and Guinevere KNOW now they have been found out, that Arthur knows, and that he did not immediately strike them down but that consequences will happen. (There’s also a whole thing about Arthur abandoning the sword that gives him the right to rule, but we’ll leave that be for the moment… except to say that Lancelot freaks out about this issue, and runs off into the woods ass out which is actually pretty funny)

How does this relate to our ineffables? Well, at this point Aziraphale has realized what their relationship is (it’s love, baby!!!), Crowley’s been there all along (maybe not in the same words but you know), but they are still being watched, monitored and observed - literally by the nazi zombie yahoos in this scene but potentially at all times from above. That’s a great big sword keeping them apart.

[mortiscausa]

i also have to confess that for the most part there's not really any film or television adaptation of arthurian legends that i like all that much. idk im picky!

[slowlyfadingaway5]

Okay SO! I'm a fairy tale folklore mythology girlie and this episode of neverafter hits so fucking hard.

BUT when the Sword of Truth was first introduced as gold and gleaming and PIB said that it was used to cut wood, there was a moment after that where it cut to Brennan's face and you know what kind of face he fucking has when the PCs say something off the cuff that has relevance later on or something he never thought of but might work later on. you know the look

And it reminded me of the folk tale/fable of "The Honest Woodcutter" and I fucking know it's an Aesop's fable and the sword is called the Sword of Truth and I feel like I'm grasping at strings here (ha) but in the promo for ep 8 the sword is potentionally a person? So MAYBE just maybe hear me out, the sword is Aesop

[fallenblackstar]

Flip that Coin theories

I have a bunch of different situations thought for the lore focused on what we saw in Flip that Coin's MV and I'll be putting them all together here as they're not long enough to put in separate posts + I feel it'll be better to connect all in that way.

The points I'll be covering here are:

The coin is a magical artifact

The coin was placed on purpose

Transition between worlds

Possible connection of the virus with LLTK

[The links send you to my respective tweets talking about these points]

Heads up that tweets don't have much information compared to this blog, as they were made during comeback era, and some even before the MV release, so now I'm connecting more dots as we have much more information and time to process what we received.

Without further ado, let's start digging into this:

The coin is a magical artifact

I remember that during the countdown for FtC comeback Louis said we should pay atention to the coin.

At first I thought it was because coins have two sides, and that pretty much applies to them in the lore right now. They hinted a lot to this before the release of FtC and also we have been knowing about different worlds since HOK7 albums dropped, with the lore in the final pages.

But as we were given more information, I started to think it had a deeper meaning and that probably the coin we're talking about is magical.

And what does the coin do? Well, is the key to travel between worlds. I could get this answer after we got the MV, seeing how we saw them jumping between worlds after flipping the coin. Louis and Hwon (we will see Hwon's case in the next point) used the coin and seemingly traveled to a different world than the initial one.

We also see Dann stopping Hwon from flipping the coin at the end, which is basically him stopping Hwon from jumping to another world.

And with this I can jump to the next point:

The coin was placed on purpose

At first I thought it was Louis the hooded guy at the start, that drops the coin, but it turned out to be Dann. This still works tho, as my point is that hooded Dann left the coin for the other Dann to find it.

Dann brings the coin to the group and Louis picks it up, as if he knows what to do with it, he then flips it and jumps to another world, finding hooded Louis there.

That coin was probably the way the hooded kings used to get in contact with the other kings.

And for what? That's still not very clear, I can't really say which group is the antagonist here because it can go both ways, especially with that last scene with hooded Dann and regular Mujin.

But both worlds may have a reason to contact each other, thus the coin.

And while we are still in the topic, let's go to the next point:

The transition between worlds

After some time watching the MV I started to think that maybe the underwater scene can represent the transition between worlds after using the coin.

This scene is placed between Hwon flipping the coin in the second chorus and him catching it at the end of the bridge. Is a curious thing to do when the coin is the key/portal between worlds and during this scene we see how both Hwon can see each other, kinda like swapping places in that underwater limbo.

At the start I thought that maybe this underwater scene was something specific for Hwon's character so at first I didn't have this thought, until I discovered they had other kings in mind to do this, in case Hwon couldn't do the scene.

So, knowing they tell us a lot with who does or says what, I came to think that this scene in particular is something general of the world and it will have the same purpose/effect/meaning regardless of the king. And they chose Hwon to represent it here first.

Let's imagine the case Hwon couldn't do the scene, then Ivan was the next one in line to do it, which means that whether is Hwon, Ivan, Mujin or anyone, the scene serves its purpose, and being placed between the flip of the coin, just makes me think that this is the limbo they cross when they travel between worlds with the coin.

These three points are linked by the coin. Now let's jump to the last one that tackles a different matter presented in the MV:

The virus and his connection to a previous installment

At the end of FtC MV we have a short scene of hooded Dann entering a dark, almost empty room, where regular Mujin is sitting in silence in the armchair, watching TV.

We can hear for a moment the TV, giving a news report of a virus that spreads through blood.

What this virus does is not clear as far as I know, but when I saw LLTK MV after discussing lore stuff with a friend, I noticed something in particular:

There´s a short sequence of blood dripping that then changes to DNA.

This is probably the first hint we were given about this virus, why would you put a sequence of blood and DNA? And it makes more sense with FtC's last scene with the news about a virus.

It gives the "zombie apocalypse" vibes, but what if it is in a uncoventional way? Not the typical zombies but immortal people.

We know Louis is immortal, is something they tell us in LLTK, so what if the virus is the cause of immortality? In that case, did Louis bring the virus? Or even deeper, its origin is tied to Louis or is he another victin of said virus?

These are questions that I'm afraid we won't have answers soon, and we will need to wait for them to drop more information in future installments. But I have a feeling that the virus could be related to immortality. What is still a mystery is their full effects, why is it such a concern to be on the news, who brought it and why, what is the purpose of it.

So, what do you think? I'd love to hear opinions on these, I love to discuss theories and that stuff.

If you arrived here, thank you so much for reading!

[honeyroha]

.

[tenno-aster]

Rebb used some interesting language when talking about how we show up in 1999. She specifically says we have to figure out how to get to 1999 along with our stuff.

In the demo, we saw an Excalibur being spit out of an almost Helminth-like growth and engage Arthur. Rebb also said in an interview that when the swords cross, the perspective of the quest shifts to us. So, that Excalibur is definitely us. We also see one of those mouths behind the stage set in the mall where we spawn in as Tenno.

Assuming Loid doesn't have another working time machine available, my theory is this: At the beginning of the demo when Arthur's hand is possessed, that's us transferencing into him again to send the information to the technocyte to 3d print us a 1999 surrogate/copy (with gear) for ourselves to then transference into.

This makes sense given that I don't see any other way for us to guarantee to have an Excal (especially one that mirrors Arthur) in that crossing-swords scene.

[kaibutsushidousha]

The Dark Six are the Excalibur fairies?? Don't they predate vampires by thousands of years?

The basis of the theory is:

The Dark Six is called "the oldest system" and the oldest system we currently know is the six Excalibur fae from 12000 BC.

Six.

The Aylesbury plotline involves waiting for them to finish reviving, and the fact that they paid with their lives to forge Excalibur explains why they're needing to revive.

Brunestud was initially interested in Earth because the kingdom of the moon lost everything it had, and we know Sefar attacked the Moon before Earth, so that's a pretty valid reason to fixate on the thing that killed Sefar.

The other group attempting the Aylesbury ritual is the Harwey family, whose most powerful magecraft is named Sword Camelot and whose project created a "perfect king" in the molds of King Arthur.

Fate's late Gransurg Blackmore had a whole village of human followers dedicated to his will and that village's project was working with Morgan to create a mirror image of King Arthur.

Pure Arcueid's sword straight up just looks like this.

[gaiussleechtank]

I just thought of this theory so now I’m going to inflict it on all of you because I am no longer well after thinking this:

Magic existed in Albion long before Merlin and Arthur, et cetera, did. And based on canon - the books, the tales, even the geography and beings - magic used to be massive in Albion. A huge part of life and nature and living. Then Arthur is born and Ygraine dies and the Purge begins. Magic is killed off, reduced and nearly wiped out; thousands of species go extinct, entire cultures are burnt, and hundreds of millennia of knowledge are erased. So as a last resort to save itself, Merlin is born.

Merlin - Emrys - Magic Itself/Incarnate.

All of this desperate power is out there and channelled into one single being. Think of it, all the land's magic rushing into a single entity and given life, evolved from having existence in everything to truly living and experiencing a concentrated point. Maybe this is why Merlin has such a deep connection with everything, because he has existed before as something so much greater than the human mind.

I think this is why he is Emrys, why Emrys is immortal, you can't kill Magic, Albion's world doesn't work that way. There is the balance of life to maintain.

This is where Arthur and the Prophecy of the Once and Future King come in: Merlin and Arthur are greatly connected. It's Arthur's birth that forces Merlin into creation and it's together that they are meant to bring greatness to the land.

Except they don't, Albion's 'Golden Era' doesn't come. Arthur dies and Merlin continues living because Magic cannot die. Centuries pass, Merlin is missing his other half and Magic continues to disappear because Merlin and Arthur didn't save it.

So there is a build up, Magic keeps going to Merlin to protect itself, Albion ages and falls and is rebuilt over and over again into something new with each passing century. As time progresses Magic turns to its greatest source - the undying force of magic, the greatest concentration of it given life - and because of this the land slowly forgets that it even had magic to begin with.

This is what forces Albion's Greatest Need. The balance cannot handle this, the land cannot handle this and so Arthur returns to save it all.

He is Merlin's other half - their destinies are literally written and entwined with one another.

They would figure out that Magic had disappeared from the land and that it was why Arthur was back, but it would be Merlin to realise where Magic had gone to and what it would take for it to be brought back.

Merlin would have to die for Albion to be saved. His life would have to end and return to its previous state of unconscious sentient existence.

But how can someone that cannot die stop living?

It's easy really: have their other half of their soul - the one that they were born for, who they live for and exist for - kill their physical body with an immortal blade.

Only Arthur wielding the Excalibur would work. After all, Arthur was the reason that Merlin was born, so who's to say that Arthur's not the reason Merlin dies?

[witchlingcirce]

One thing I think will be a cool edition in TWP is the swords, lol.

We have Ash and Janus who obviously have Phaesphoros and Heosphoros. (phaesphoros on top and Heosphoros on the bottom. Both of these depictions our from the TMI graphic novels, Vol 1 and Vol 6 )

I’d presume that Janus has Phaesphoros and that Ash has Heosphoros (or maybe just ash has both). I can definitely seeing them using these swords throughout the entire series. I think there’s a chance that Ash will get ahold of both swords at some point and maybe even give one away. Maybe too Dru or maybe even giving Clary one!

Also on a side note, I really like how the graphic novels depict them as Katana’s, I like how unique it makes it compared to the other swords we see throughout the series.

There is also the sword of Durrendal. Now if this sword were to go to anyone, I definitely think it would go to Kit.

Now, of course we know that the sword faded after it had served its purpose butttt I don’t think it’s served all its purpose. I mean it IS a sister sword to Cortana.

Cassie has said that the plot of TWP will loosely follow Arthurian legend. While I am not familiar with this legend, I do know that Arthur does pull a sword called Excalibur from a rock. I know this is a common theory, but I could genuinely imagine kit pulling this sword out of a rock.

Anyways, can’t wait to see them all being badasses and kicking demons!

[plantyberry]

Cloudcuckoolander Tally Part 3: Chapter 1-3 and 1-3-2: The Fencing Club, or, 'If I swallow Excalibur, does that mean I'll become invulnerable?'

And we are back for the newest installment of the Cloudcuckoolander tally, this time featuring the fencing club. And I'm definitely counting this thing as part of my NaNoWriMo wordcount tally goal dammit.

Now, for the sake of simplicity, the following factors are preferable (but not necessary) for your cuckoo MC

-Friends or more with Adrian -Gadgetry as a hobby -NOT have the following fears: Blood, Fear, Attention -Greed will help

Additionally, the Fencing Club is the only pick that allows you to have a mute MC while still grabbing the 'Keikaku' achievement.

On the way to the club:

I double-check to make certain that the passing university student isn't actually a zombie in disguise. cuckoo +1

The Adrian conversation (topics about clothes are mostly identical, with a few differences):

Red Cape + Frame = 3 or height = tall: -"Little?" I wonder if Adrian has suddenly gone blind. --"Aye, Aye, fairy godmother." +1 Cuckoo

Vampire Cape: +1 Cuckoo -Strike a stereotypical vampire pose. +1 Cuckoo --"I never bite and tell" +1 Cuckoo --"Lies and slander! I've got my own superior vampire teeth for that!" +1 Cuckoo

Spandex Tracksuit: -"I was thinking about wearing this instead of my uniform today." --"If we switched to plastic swords we could totally do naked fencing!" +1 Cuckoo -I say nothing, I merely start dancing the Tango de la Muerte. +1 Cuckoo (and the Keikaku achievement)

I launch right into the meat of the matter.

-"There was a murder during my last work shift…" --(if police)I begin to describe my brilliant werewolf culprit theory. +1 Cuckoo ---I'm not joking. +1 Cuckoo --(if reporter, paramedic)"All I have to say is… zombies." +1 Cuckoo ---I'm not joking. +1 Cuckoo --(if lab technician) In the end, this is the work of werewolves/zombies… +1 Cuckoo --(if wildlife biologist) I elucidate in great detail upon the nitty-gritty details regarding my genius mutant bear theory. +1 Cuckoo ---I'm not joking. +1 Cuckoo (Whenever applicable) I'm not joking but I pretend that I am in a brilliant double-blind maneuver. +2 Cuckoo

-"So I was recently mauled by an invisible poltergeist…" -- Show your bruised arm to Adrian ---"What? I find this situation perfectly normal." ----I'm not being sarcastic. +1 Cuckoo (Note: If your cuckoo score is under 5, you gain +1 Denial instead)

-"It seems that my apartment may be a little bit haunted…" --"I don't know, man, that bedroom ghost sounded pretty sexy." ---Obviously, I'm not joking. +1 Cuckoo

I launch into a long involved story regarding my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. -(follow the 'recently mauled by an invisible poltergeist' answer line) --"I blame the poltergeist. Also the werewolves, potential zombies, and I've got a sneaking suspicion that mutant fairies may be involved," you ramble. +1 Cuckoo

I believe actions speak louder than words

-I silently whip out my thirteen-page description of my past day including all details regarding my past work shift, my nightmare and strange injury, as well as the current haunted atmosphere of my apartment. --I wave my arms around in my best impression of a haunting ghost. +1 Cuckoo ---I reenact a scene from an earlier Knights of Our Lives episode that just so happened to appear in my dreams before. +1 Cuckoo (MC needs to know who Caleb is) ----I spin in a circle while twirling my arms. Surely Adrian will understand my meaning. +1 Cuckoo

Outside / Event prompts:

-"I'm on to you and your zombie ways, Sefu. No mercy shall be given by me or my flamethrowing sword!" +1 Cuckoo

-Perhaps it was the werewolf that ate Caleb Degaré? +1 Cuckoo (You need to know who Caleb is)

About the swords breaking: -(If you've got the stats or a high enough cuckoo score) "Don't worry, I've got the stats to save everyone." +1 Cuckoo (The Stats: Body >=30 or Body+Magic>=30 or (Talent=Agility + Body>=20) or (Interpretative Dancing>2 and Body>=20)

Post-Adrian Greetings

Talking about Arthur: "I just want to know if he's secretly a zombie/werewolf/mutant. He is, isn't he?" +1 Cuckoo I wonder if I accidentally left my apartment on fire this morning. +1 Cuckoo I wonder if an African swallow could really carry a coconut? +1 Cuckoo I hold up my phone with a Monty Python and the Holy Grail meme about coconuts on its screen. +1 Cuckoo I wonder if one of those sword swallower people could gulp down Excalibur? It'd be handy to be your own sheath. +1 Cuckoo (Requires Arthuriana fanatic)

Asking about the Apocalypse: "Pure unfiltered meta knowledge." +1 Cuckoo

Ask how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. +1 Cuckoo

Changing your clothes:

-This is it! The perfect time to start a strip tease right in the middle of the practice hall! +1 Cuckoo (fear mustn't be 'attention')

Weapon Choice:

-Never mind the sabre, foil, and épée fencing swords. I really wish that I could use Excalibur to sword fight instead. Just like in the old tales of might and magicry. +1 Cuckoo (++)

Before the spar:

Talking to Hjordis about the swords breaking: -In the end, I can't help but suspect toilet gremlins. +1 Cuckoo

Tell everyone about what happened to you in the restroom: -"If there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!" I burst out singing in a very thematically-relevant manner. +1 Cuckoo

When finisheing to prepare for the spar: -It's time to do the Dance of Joy +1 Cuckoo

The color of your sword: -…the color out of space. +1 Cuckoo (++)

Entering the piste: -I throw my extra glove straight in Sefu's face. That's what they're meant for, right?! +1 Cuckoo -I AM Michael Jackson. I put on a single glove and moonwalk to the piste. +1 Cuckoo

-I strike a delicately posed stance, balanced on one leg, knee bent and lifted above my hips, arms extended at my sides like the wings of a crane, as my sword points at the unseen heavens above. +1 Cuckoo -I gravely inform the audience that only masked eyes are allowed to behold my full splendor. +1 Cuckoo

-Frosty the Snowman dances seductively down my spine. +1 Cuckoo

The sword shower incident:

Note: Aside from the stats, you may succesfully pass the sword dance checks if you are a changeling or possess the Lucky talent if your dice roll goes well, though it's an obviously unreliable method to succeed unless you intend to save scum this until you force a pass.

Unwilling rescuer: -I duck and cover and- no, why are my feet moving forward?! No, no, no I'm not trying to 1v1 an entire shower of sharp shrapnel! --I wonder what I should have for dinner tonight? +1 Cuckoo

If the rescue failed, but the people wore masks -Now it's definitely time to do the Dance of Joy +1 Cuckoo --No unmasked eyes are allowed to behold my glory indeed. +1 Cuckoo

Wrapping up (Post good end)

-I launch into a statistical analysis of the causes, probability percentages, prevention methods, and data anomalies found within all train derailment accidents within the past twenty-five years. Yes, most certainly this is an appropriate conversational topic right now. Cuckoo +1

Changing area: Armory -"Don't let the darkness consume your soul or the splinters find your throat," I enigmatically tell my departing clubmate. Cuckoo +1

Changing Area: Men's restroom -"Don't let the darkness consume your souls," I enigmatically call out as my two squabbling clubmates leave before me. Cuckoo +1

Changing Area: Ladies' Restroom -"Don't let the darkness consume your soul." Cuckoo +1

Changing Area: Universal Restroom -"Don't let the darkness consume your soul," I enigmatically tell my cheerily departing clubmate. Cuckoo +1

Changing Area: Corner of the Fencing Hall -"Don't let the darkness consume your soul," I enigmatically reply. Cuckoo +1

It you're possessed (Just… Why?), there is one option right before the sparring match -He's coming! He's coming! He's coming! Cuckoo +1

Out of these options, the Tango de la Muerte (Interpretative score helps succeed the check) and Masked Eyes (Will and Magic +1) option are good picks, in my opinion. Getting the good end is a bit harder in this club that in the polo club because you have to pick the right options to make it happen. Additionally, an important thing to note is that successfully fending off the splinter shower will injure your ankle slightly, which will make escaping the hydra more difficult, if you wish to avoid Merlin forcefully healing you later on.

[tansyuduri]

Merlin Loregasm Rewatch S1E9

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my rewatch of Merlin focusing on the lore. I am a giant nerd so pretty excited about this. We’re on EXCALIBUR

Uther: Do you solemnly Swear to govern the peoples of this kingdom and their dominions according to the statutes, customs, and laws, Laid down by your forebearers,

Arthur: I do Sire

Uther: Do you promise to exercise mercy and justice, in your deeds and judgments?

Arthur: I do Sire

Uther: And do you swear allegiance to Camelot now and for as long as you shall live?

Arthur: I, Arthur pendragon, do pledge life and limb to your service And to the protection of the kingdom and it's peoples.

Uther: Now, being of age, And the Heir apparent, from hence forth you shall be crown prince of Camelot Okay so Arthur is now crown prince of Camalot. And of age. we know hes at Least 20 so of age is likley 21 in this world which is interesting because it implies lifespans are longer due to the more advanced medicine, Normally the medieval OF AGE was 16 years old. Also, see the golden ring placed around Arthurs head? Yeah thats called a Coronet and was traditionally worn by crown princes at formal occasions (Like we will see Arthur do)

It is a bit odd he was not considered crown prince already since he was the oldest royal child (And only royal child as far as people know) So even if Primogeniture (Inheridence by oldest son) was not a thing he would STILL be crown prince. See a crown prince IS the heir apparent of a royal kingdom. And Heir apparent is the one who is going to succeed the king. And cannot be displaces by the birth of another prince. So if he was heir apparent he pretty much was already was Crown prince. My guess is this is traditionally reaffirmed in Camalot when a prince comes of age,

I also like the use of the word peoples because it kinda hints that Camalot is big enough to have multiple peoples within its lands. Which if the theory from the Lancelot episode is true would be the case.

WHOOO Okay I think we have an answer. Devil is VERY Christian. So I'm going with there being some very weird semi paganized version of Christianity existing in Camalot that is left over from the Romans and just got mixed with local traditions. I therorized about this in one loregasm and I'm sticking with it because they ARE VERY MUCH not full on Catholic or Eastern Orthadox. And there are still a lot of pagan elements.

Throwing down a Gauntlet as a challenge is a custom of the late medieval era. It was considered a GRAVE insult and HAD to be picked up to accept the challenge if one wanted to keep ones honnor.

HI Sir Owain! Lesse in the original legends you were a Child of Urrian of Gore and Morgana. You had a pet Lion! You defeated a evil knight and married his widow, Then neglected your wife because you were too busy doing knight stuff. She ditches you and you go mad with grief and live naked in the woods. Then Morgana cures you and you win back your wife. Also, you are one of the last to die before Arthur at Cammlan. Have I mentioned how much I love that Merlin sometimes just goes NAH let's kill em instead?

Geof: Gaius thank god

Gaius: you know why I'm here

Geof: The black knight

Gaius: So it is he

Geof: you saw his crest

Gaius: have you confirmed it?

Geof: it is the crest of Tristan De Bois

Gaius: And he is the only knight ever to have carried such a crest

Geof: yes acording to the records

Okay this is a HUGE boon for us lore wise, See we don't know that much about the personality of Yygraines family. (or a ton about her's for that matter) BUT if it's his crest not a family crest it means HE picked it. So we can use heraldry to learn a bit about him!

So the symbol he uses is an Eagle this represents strength and courage and often has to do with military skill and leadership. It can also represent freedom, and independance and the ability to see things clearly. black represents constancy or grief and white peace and sincerity.

So Tristan was likely a strong man and military leader who was sincere and constant in his personality. He likley tended to perfer peace but when pushed to it would fight well. He might have been independent minded as well showing by making his own crest.

OOCLY the show could be telling us that it is likley telling us this man was RIGHT about Uther being at fault. One way or another. And his act in standing up to Uther was a courageous one. OR its also possible he took up this sigil after Ygraines's death If so his very crest and oufit is blaming and taunting Uther! But that is just my assessment!

HI Sir Pellinor! Lesse in the original legends you were the king of Listeoise (Lake District) Or of "the Illes." You killed king Lot, And hunted the Questing Beast relentlessly. You were killed by Gwaine. You were also Percival's dad. (Among other kids.)

Othanden can mean Out Of Hand in Danish. Otherwise I cannot find much on this. My guess is this battle would have taken place in the previously mentioned war with Mercia

Gaius: Tristan De Bois was the brother of Ygraine -- Uther's wife

Merlin: Arthur's Mother?

Gaius: Ygraine died in childbirth. He blamed Uther and came to the gates of Camalot and Challanged him.

Merlin: to single combat?

Gaius: Uther won, but with his dying breath Traistan cursed Camalot to one day suffer his return. I thought it was the ramblings of a dying man. People Estimate the chances of death in childbirth in the middle ages to be the cause of 50 percent of young female fatalities. Giving birth was incredably dangerous. (And most woman did it many time though less so in the Merlin world) For in the actual birthing process and the chance of childbed fever afterward. So this is likley an early clue to the fact that there was somthing supernatural going on with Arthur's birth. No one in their right mind blamed a man for the death of their wife in childbirth ESPECIALLY if said wife was having their first birth and not too old or too young.

Now in the Merlin world I would guess death in childbirth of woman is at a much lower rate. For two reasons. First of all The more advanced medicine would make it a bit less common. (Though they do not have modern medicine or germ theory or modern technology so not by much) The other reason being IN merlin families seem to be small compared to the huge ones of the middle ages. (Hinting Child Mortality is not as high) So less chances for a woman to die. STILL it likely would have been fairly common.

Now to the interesting fact that Ygraine came from France! Implying contact and trade with them. See Ygraine is the french version of Arthur's mother's name And we've talked about the last name in previous posts.

"Came to the gates of Camalot castle and challenged him" is interesting because it means he was not in Camalot. SO HOW would he know about Uther's involvement in Ygraine's death? My guess is it lies in the "one day suffer his return" See here we have another "How would he know." My guess is the man was some sort of seer. Or magic user. Ygraine was said to have been pretty friendly with many magic users. It's possible magic (or being a seer) ran in her family. The other option of her somehow writing him and knowing about the whole magic to conceive thing is also possible but doesn't explain knowing he would return, Nimue could just have been using something he said randomly but I don't really think so? OR he was just crazy? And was attacking Uther for what he thought was a normal childbirth death? That would be REALLY weird. though. And the later "it was magic that killed her not I" and "never the less it was you he blamed" Seems to go against this option

Gaius: My guess is we're dealing with a Wraith.

Merlin: A wraith?

Gaius: The spirit of a dead man conjured from the grave.

Merlin: So this is the work of a sorcerer

Gaius: Powerful Magic can harness the greif and rage of a demanted soul and make it live again

Merlin: How do we stop it?

Gaius: We can't, Because its not alive no mortal weapon can kill it

Merlin: Surly there must be somthing

Gaius: Nothing can stop it until it has achived what it came for

Merlin: And what's that

Gaius: Revenge.

Wraith is a Scottish word for ghost that has become a more general term. It can also mean the exact likeness of a person seen before death as a death omen, (A soul who was on the verge of death or recently passed on) From there the meaning has evolved to many many different things.

Geoferry is not in on it! Its likely Arthurs birth magic is not in the court records of the purge! (Theorized about this perviously)

Uther: Havn't you tired of revenge?

Nimueh: Haven't you? You Began this war when you threw me from the court and salughtered all of my kind

Uther: you brought it on yourself you practiced evil

Nimueh: I was your freind Uther, You welcomed me here

Uther: you betrayed that freindship

Nimueh: I did as you asked I used the magic you so despise to give your barren wife the son you craved

Uther: Don't ever speak of her in that way She was my heart, My soul, and you took her from me.

Nimueh: She died giving birth to your son. it was not my choice. That is the law of Magic. to create a life there had to be a death, the balance of the world had to be repaired

Uther: you knew it would kill her

Nimueh: No you're wrong. If I had forseen her death and the terrible retrebution you would seek. I would never have granted your wish.

Ok first of all we know from later Nimugh has a bit of control of who dies. Hinting that something interfered here causing it to be Ygraine. (I totally don't have headcanons about this you will eventually see in my fics)

ALSO, I find it interesting he says "Evil" not "evil sorcery," I think he truly belives all magic is evil. I mean every villain is a good guy in their own mind.

BUT he was also freinds with Nimueh and welcomed her to Camalot. So he didn't always think all magic was evil. It seems it truely was Ygraines death that caused that. I always wondered if part was just an excuse in his mind because he was insecure that other people had so much power and perhaps helped him build the kingdom with it. So they could tear it down. I think Nimueh was court sorcerer. And helped him take over the kingdom, but that's just my headcannon.

Also gotta wonder what kinda person Ygraine was that Uther fell so deeply in love with her.

Geoff: Well several fables speak of Ancient swords

=Merlin: that can kill the dead?"

Geoff: The swords the fables speak of could destroy anything alive or dead.

Merlin: can you show me one of these fables"

Geoff: welll let me think, yes

(Later)

Goef: this is the chronicle of Beltane, now then, ah were we are 'Sir Marhaus looked at the great sword, begotten in the dragons breath and found it passing good"

Sir Marhaus was the son of the king of ireland and his sister was the queen of Ireland and a knight of the Round Table in folklore. Beltane as we addressed is celebrated may 1st! So this book is the chronicles of a holiday on May 1st

Merlin: I've come to ask for a sword. The strongest sword your father's ever made

Gwen: What for?

Merlin: To save Arthur (Cut to latter but continuation of this scene so keeping it here)

Gwen: My father's been saving this. Hes always said it was the best sword he's ever made.

Merlin: its perfect

Gwen: He'll kill me if he find's I've taken it

Merlin: He'll understand, You did it for arthur. I've talked about this before but this is more evidence that Gwen's family, while commoners, are not the same level of poor as most. Making swords and armor, especially good ones was a skilled art. And those things were EXPENSIVE. Tom is not the royal swordsmith so its HIGHLY likely he rivals the royal swordsmith in skill enough to have some knights of Camalot (The people who can actually afford arms and armor) Buy or get repairs done from him instead. (This is a big deal he must be VERY good) There are not many other people he could be making swords and armor for. I suppose there might be some mercenaries and freelancers who are rich enough for swords and perhaps VERY RARLY full on armor. He makes armor that is of the quality nobles wear, And can afford to just give it to people. we know this from Lancelot. I think he must do other typical blacksmithing AND Arms and armor for knights. So I see two possibilities. Either they consistently live at a level above the poverty of most commoners

OR Every now and then he gets a commission that makes them richer for a bit. With Gwen ALSO being such a good seamstress and Also considering they seem to be able to give away armor (Cough Lancelot cough) I think the first option is more likely, or perhaps its a mix of the two. To be clear they are not rich. I'm not saying they are rich. I'm saying they seem to be above most commoners in wealth. Also, wealth did not matter as much as Class in the middle ages anyway.

Him putting his best sword away might be some form of insurance He's still a commoner and is not guaranteed work because he is not the royal smith. And what if there is some emergency or a time when he doesn't get any of the fine commissions for a while?

Uther: You knew that one day this business would come back to haunt me.

Gaius: not quite so litteraly

Uther: I should have listened to you. You said that no good would come of using witchcraft at Arthur's birth

Gaius: you wanted an heir you thought it was the only way.

Uther: Nimueh told me there would be a pice to pay

Gaius: You weren't to know that price would be Ygraines life

OKAY first of all does this mean that GAIUS was not the one to suggest using magic? Then WTF was Uther talking about in that conversation about something being stupid to do "because Gaius said it was so" back in the poisoned chalice? Was Gaius just the messanger? It means it might explain more why Gauis lived if he was not the one to suggust it. Perhaps Uther asked Gaius if he knew a way and Gaius said he did but no good would come of it? Or Gaius was indeed just the messenger? BUT WHY DID HE NEED A MESSENGER IF NIMUEH WAS AT COURT. I swear when this is all done I'm going over all of these and doing a summary of possible answers to some questions!

Merlin: will your Bunrish it to save Arthur

Killy: The dead do not return without reason, who has he come for.

Merlin: Uther

Killy: Then let him take his Vengance and the wraith will die without my aid.

Merlin: But it's Arthur who is going to fight him! You have to save him

Killy: That is your destany young warlock not mine

Merlin: But if Arthur fights the wraith and dies camalot will have no heir, I will have no destany

Killy: A weapon forged with my assistance will have great power

Merlin: I know

Killy: You do not know You can only guess. You have not seen what I've seen. If you had perhaps you would not ask this of me.

Merlin: what do you mean?

Killy: In the wrong hands this sword could do great evil

Burnishing typically means polishing metal until it shines. Figuratively it can mean to enhance or perfect something. I think this is an interesting word to use and possibly implies a sword like Excalibur would never need to be polished again.

Also I'm pretty convinced one thing Killy is talking about here is how most of the high priestesses died. Remember mortal swords can not kill Morgana by the time of her death. There could be many other incidents too. However seeing as Excalibur mostly functions as a normal sword until one is up against undead or borderline imortals I think this could be a main focus. Of course it does bring up the question of if there were other swords and what happened to them if this is true. Because if this was the case I SERIOUSLY doubt Uther would have let such swords just vanish. Then again as far as we know the sword that killed Arthur was just used as a grave maker. ALSO as far as we know those are the only dragon-burnished swords we see in the show. Which means there are others either just hidden places, or out there with people having no clue as to their powers because they just found them somewhere and were like cool sword! The later kinda amuses me. Just some random dude around having no idea their sword is a WOID (Weapon Of Immortal Destruction)

Uther: Who made it?

Merlin: uh, tom the blacksmith

Uther: Its worthy of a king

Merlin: You would be better off with a sword your trusted

Uther: No, It has almost Perfect balance. Tom's not the Royal swordsmith I'm supprised Arthur went to him.

Merlin: That was me.

(This is the line I keep referring to about how Gwen's dad is not the royal swordsmith.)

The balance point on a sword is where you can lay it over a finger and not have it fall, Its center of weight. Usually its just a bit above the hilt. This is why most swords had pommels

If there is too much weight in the direction of the grip the trikes from it will not be fast and smooth, Also you will have a hard time pushing your opponents blade around. while if there is too much on the blade it will take longer to recover from a blow.

[bright-side20]

Theory :Since Ruhn took the Starsword from the cave of the princess in Avallen full of wicked spirits, Azriel could have got it's twin the Truth teller from the prison and that's why: "The Prison sentries know me what I am."

In Arthurian legends, Avalon or Avallon is the island where Excalibur was forged. It is also the place where King Arthur was taken to meet his death. Avalon is often described as the lost kingdom, surrounded by magical mists. In its center lies a mountain crowned with a circle of stones, and only the blessed ones can see the paradise behind it.

So I think the Avallen is related to the prison Island (dusk court)

And that's why I believe Azriel giving the TT (Starsword twin) to Elain and Sarah insisting that he never let anyone else touch it, along with the description of it as a bridge between them, is a significant and crucial scene. I think it will be mentioned surely again, either in Hofas or Elain's book.

When Elain appeared out of shadows right behind her target to stab it precisely, I suspect the TT might have played a role. If its magic responded to her, it means that she can wield it too 🤷🏻‍♀️

[chiililisatoo]

My take on gilgamesh's obsession with Artoria's ideals and conviction

this is a GilgameshxArtoria theory / headcanon post , if you are not into this pairing this content may not suite you so i recommend you skip it but you are free to read through and share any criticisms /thoughts you may have on it :

So gilgamesh finds artoria's wish to redo the past be it her rule or to not become a king at all naieve which it is and her full dedication to such an ideal is amusing as rewriting her own rule as a king is both naieve and a very anti-god dream , he too in his life after enkidus death searched for immortality and found it and lost it and just as Artorias mountain of losses and regrets he was on one too metaphorically but since he was alive and could live on he moved on ammended himself his outlook on life and adapted and thus died with no regrets while artoria was mortally wounded and thus desperate on her mountain of regrets and losses and had to make the deal with the world in her desperation as else she would just die without being able to do anything

Meaning Artoria is Gilgamesh after snake ate his herb of immortality and chose to go back and get the herb and this time consume it immediately or some other direct , not through legacy or achievements but literal way of achieving immortality , gilgamesh in that moment became wise and focused on his rule which flourished and approved his decision but had gilgamesh still stuck on immortality would be have been able to attain it how would his life and his legend progressed then this what if was always on his mind and artoria is the living what if

So gilgamesh has wisdom no heroics , while artoria is mostly heroics with little wisdom but gilgamesh as he states to artoria does not put one over the other though he considers artoria's choice much harder than his own so when artoria's defeats casters abomination with excalibur that beauty and power is an approval of artorias choice and her her conviction and her ability to achieve her naieve but real ideal , this spurs on gilgamesh to reconsider him being a HS in silly war to take it more seriously as now he sees a reward to it - artoria and the continuation of his own dream of heroism which are same in nature to artorias dream of redo/reset , he wants them both to achieve their dream together and feels some inferiority/rivalry to artoria and wants to test his conviction against her own but he does want to continue his/her dream together with her as he pines for her and proposes to her before he is aware of the true nature of the grail and grail mud or current modern age and has no incarnated human body but he still proposes to her "marriage" - i do not know how a marriage between 2 HS would work out but since they are magical being there has to be some ritual that is considered marriage ,

so gilgamesh wants to continue his pursuit of greatness/immortality/heroism with artoria the HS but what is his dream which he wants to continue as we are well aware of artoria's but not gil's dream I think eventually in the nasuverse in seraph / extraverse / extella we will see gilgamesh as a HS produces his own noble phantasm which is a true grail a true wish granting device to enforce a living human beings will on a very great being like an outer god cause he lacks his own title NP weapon this could be his but to produce something that powerful he would be deleted from throne of heroes and this would manifest his NP,

since I lowkey ship artoria and gil due to above take o it as i find them somewhat similar having reached different conclusions due to different choices due to circumantances being different

so this is my head canon gil wants artoria as his queen/vassal but she would never be that so his best bet to team up with her is to be her Merlin and provide her with weapons with which she can charge their enemy , so gilgamesh creates this uber powerful will enfocring NP and loses his HS form and disappears and then since this NP requires alot of power artoria would create an opening using avalon to their enemy and then pour her energy into it to charge it and ready it for use and this usable NP on the now open to take strike enemy would be taken downby their living human master who enforces their will on this powerful enemy outer god or something and both artoria and gilgamesh are deleted from the throne of heroes thus concluding their dreams would that not be very romantic ?

this is my interpretation / theory / headcanon on it , thoughts ?

[albentelisa]

Hi. Here's an interesting ask. What if Blinky had been the one to use the time stone?

Hi! I feel that Blinky is the one who can pull the time travel better than Jim. First, because he would never try to change the Trollhunter (for Blinky Jim is THE champion, even if he likes other kids). Second, Blinky can have additional knowledge without looking suspicious to anyone (like, he's the keeper of troll lore, so everyone would rather assume that he read about it somewhere). And Blinky has a better memory than Jim which already can be a huge advantage in keeping track of all the events.

I feel that Blinky would avoid intervening when he knows that Jim will succeed, but he still will try to change some stuff. Obviously, he will start bonding with Jim earlier (and show more consideration for his regular life this time). I also believe that Blinky won't be captured before the Battle of Two Bridges this time, planning the proper ambush this time.

There will be some adjustments while dealing with Angor Rot (like Blinky can mention that Angor knows some magic tricks, so Jim can avoid being cursed). I feel that Aaarrrgghh might still get poisoned, but it's less of a problem as Blinky knows the antidote formula (I bet he has it memorized just in case).

Blinky would definitely try to warn Vendel about Usurna but it's where he might fail. After all, he has a horrible reputation because of his love for conspiracies, and suspecting Usurna, who is a respected member of troll society, sounds a lot like another conspiracy theory. Vendel is already sick and tired of those. Still, I feel that Blinky would save him in any case.

Blinky will also be against contacting Merlin this time, much to everyone's surprise. The team will still wake up Merlin, but Blinky will refuse to cooperate and rather watch over the wizard. Merlin, however, would find a way to manipulate Jim to take his potion in any case.

I imagine Blinky would cover Jim during the Green Knight's attack and get hit with the obsidian shard instead. And Merlin wouldn't even bother with saving Blinky because to his mind he has even less value than Jim - which would lead to a huge conflict with Jim who would never let his father figure suffer.

I feel Jim will be able to save Blinky from corruption with Claire's help and most likely, Aaarrrgghh will be there too. I think it would be a nice parallelism between the past where Blinky taught Aaarrrgghh to be a pacifist, and the present where Aaarrrgghh reaches out to remind Blinky of his old ways.

And obviously, during ROTT a lot of damage will be avoided, both because Blinky might help to plan things differently and because Jim has less trouble getting Excalibur (as he never went through corruption and joining the Arcane Order).

[ofstarsandmoonlightt]

ok so i saw this post that got me thinking; as to who'll represent which character from the Arthurian Legend (while also keeping in mind that twp won't be exactly a retelling but more like loosely inspired by it)

Kit's royal heritage or whatever gives him an Arthur position but he also has powers that the others don't so it also goes in Merlin's direction.

I've heard the Blackthorn sword also comes into play so it probably represents excalibur, which either Dru or Ty will wield. (Ty's weapon of choice was said to be knives i think and Dru's wasn't mentioned/i don't remember, so maybe the sword'll be Dru's?)

Then there's Ash, who I think might be confused with the first heir (new twp theory?). Look, he's this mysterious guy whom probably not many know about and all; so i do think that some people who know about Kit being the first heir, while not telling anyone any specifics, kinda let it slip that the first heir's this teenage kid and all and it's easy to confuse so that *could* happen?And then it could give the illusion of Ash being Arthur and Kit can be Merlin, his mage.

This makes me think who's Lancelot? Who'll betray them? And Morgana? Can Dru represent her? There are many characters who can represent the ones from the legend but the relationships don't work out. If we're taking Ash for Arthur, Dru can't be Morgana; but if we take Ty she very well can be.

Also there's the lady of the lake, easily Livvy; it is also said that the lady of the lake gives Arthur Excalibur, so it can happen that Livvy somehow gets to know of the sword and tells whoever's Arthur it's location and all.

Camlann's the final battle ofc so in the end they'll have to fight; literally everyone dies in it so i guess it signifies the end of the shadowhunting world.

So there's that, if any of you have more thoughts let me know.

[worldismyne]

Kami Tanaka (aka Maka's mom)

She's going to be popping up in Ch 11 of Where Do All the Good Kids Go. All the Kami v Spirit talks got me wanting to bust her out early, so I'm going to headcanon dump under the cut.

She was the top of her class, but not popular. She could partner with anyone in theory, but like Excalibur very few people are compatible with her personality.

Rather than adapting to match her partner's wavelength, she forces them to match her.

She got a lot of praise from Lord Death for being the most efficient at collecting Kishen Eggs and it 100% went to her head. She genuinely believes she is the best meister (or at least she did in the 90s).

She uses her Soul Perception casually in the halls, just to flex that she can.

Her nickname in school was: The Partner Poacher.

She had two weapons she made into Death Scythes before Spirit. They immediately ghosted her as soon as they graduated.

Her parents are insanely strict. They read her diary and often got into fights with the teachers that she deserved an extra 1% on the last exam. It's amazing Kami hasn't cracked by high school.

In a perfect world, she would have been an average tsundere.

If it wasn't for Maka, she would have dumped Spirit in highschool.